No One Killed Jessica….Truth, Justice, Bureaucracy and the People.

Welcome to a world that has more democracies than dictatorships, I mean I’d like to believe we live in a world where there’s a very slim chance of having dictatorships coming to the fore-front. But then again, politics is pretty much like sports where the results are always unexpected and unanticipated, unless you’re freaking Australia and you know you’re a sure fire bet for the Finals and heck even the World Cup, and that would be the ICC World Cup. To those unaware of such an event and what the ICC is, well Google it and I’m sure you’ll see what I’m talking about. Well okay it has a lot to do with the amazing game of Cricket. This post however, is highly inappropriate for a full discourse on cricket, because, I can actually go on and on about it for hours. None the less, getting back to the topic at hand…before we get any further let me just make one thing very clear, I am not a political analyst and I have nothing to say with regards to political parties and ridiculous bureaucracy.

When I first saw the promos of this movie, the first thing that got my attention was the plot-line, the racy and gritty cinematography and the most important thing being 2 stellar actresses, in my humble opinion, sharing screen space. I mean come on!! What else can you expect me to say when you see promos featuring Vidya Balan and Rani Mukherjee? Both actresses have proved so much with movies like Parineeta and Black (for instance) and they have so much more to contribute to the world of Indian cinema. The moment the promo got done I had set some expectations as far as this movie was concerned, and this definitely would have been a movie I would’ve gone to a theatre to watch. Unfortunately, my current location doesn’t afford that luxury of being able to go watch a Hindi movie in a theatre, but, that being said, I was completely and absolutely psyched to watch this movie. The general plot-line got me to go Google the movie and of course the ever friendly Wikipedia gave me a gist on what the plot/movie was based on. That only got me further interested and waiting with bated breath for this movie.

Now before I literally nose-dive into this review, there are a few things one should NOT expect from this movie. This is not a movie about political parties and the complications that arise from messing with politicians and things of the sort. You will not see the standard thugs hired by cronies of powerful politicians to take care of business by resorting to vile things like rape and things of the sort. It’s not a Satya, so don’t expect that extent or degree of gritty-ness, neither is this a glamorous depiction of events. This story is basically about truth, justice, unity and the power of the people. I’ll try and summarize the story as much as I can, as much as I don’t really like giving away the plot or anything of the sort. I mean I’d rather tell you what I felt when I watched the movie as opposed to summarizing the entire story, that as all you smarties know are available on numerous websites that do reviews, so you don’t really need to read the story all over again. Here’s the bare minimum, the story is set in Delhi…it all starts with a girl being shot in a high profile bar by a high profile person, who has lots of political power/clout. There are 300 witnesses but by the time the report gets filed down at the police station everyone has a different story and only 7 people are witnesses. The entire case falls apart and the suspects are released, much to the chagrin of the family, and all of this happens in six years. Six years of trying to resolve this case leads to the perpetrator being declared innocent and released, due to the wonderful cons of democracy. Yeah I know you’re probably going to say that’s both ridiculous and impossible that it took six years to resolve this case, but it’s the truth. There’s a short version of the case and trials on Wikipedia…I mean wow it’s just ridiculous as to what that family had to go through. Once the verdict is out, enter enraged journalist who is pissed with the end result justice delivered to what the journalist pretty much declared was an open and shut case due to huge number of witnesses that were there when this incident occurred. This journalist then sets about with a team to do what journalists do, to seek out the truth and present facts to the masses as they are. Ultimately, the case gets a lot of national attention and people are outraged by the incompetence exhibited by many parties that were responsible and involved with this case, and due to much public pressure the case is re-opened and dealt with in the Supreme Court.

Personally the movie lived up to my expectations and then some, I thought the performances were just exemplary and I’m glad this issue was brought up. Another I liked too was the little homage/tribute the movie paid to ‘Rang De Basanti’ (the word AMAZING is an under-statement when it comes to describing RDB). Nobody should ever have to go through what Jessica and her family had to go through, it has definitely got to be one of the most difficult and frustrating things a family or an individual has to face. All that pain, sadness, frustration, anger, numbness and bitterness is way too much for anybody to carry and I sincerely and truly hope that mistakes of this caliber and crimes of this degree don’t happen in the future. But just as much as this world is filled with enlightened and wiser people, there’s always that fair share of idiots and douches who like to refresh our memories with such horrendous incidents.

The story occurs over a time period when India had just settled down from a huge war that had brought a nation together and was moving forward in the direction of growth, development and progress especially in the whole technology, communications and scientific fields. They don’t or at least I think are not supposed to be inclined to any particular side, as they are the instruments of the people and have a responsibility to those very people to give them the truth and the facts in the purest and most undiluted way possible. Sure it might be a little far fetched and naïve to expect people to not take sides, but if there’s anything one cannot deny, it’s their dedication to hunt and go the extra mile to get to the very bottom of a story. You have to realize though, that this is not a revenge oriented story or one filled with lectures and speeches about what the youth should do or what people should do. This movie is just a reminder that not everything is as simple as it looks, and that there definitely is a lot of hope in this world we live in, because it isn’t always as ignorant as it seems. People should never assume that their actions won’t have consequences and on that very same note they shouldn’t be taken for granted either. There is much power, fervor, passion and ferocity for justice and equality that can be evoked within the common man, because there’s only so much bull shit that anyone can put up with. So if you’re one of those people who think that you can keep screwing people over and none of this is going to get back to you, I’d like to give you the following warning…think before you do something stupid. It might seem like one or two people to you, but if you count all those people you’ve screwed over in the past that’s entirely something else to think about now isn’t it? They’re like the drops of water that over time collect and form an ocean, so watch your words and actions, there’s only so much oppression anyone will take.

The public/general populace is quite the force to contend with, and we must never forget that. We have…in fact; we are the power that is responsible for a lot of important and leading figures to be the people they are. We are what make them (yes I’m using the Us v/s them analogy), and we should never forget that, with that in mind we should never under-estimate all the change we’re capable of bringing about in the world and we should never psych ourselves to believe that there is nothing we can do when we’re shackled by the chains of suppression and oppression. Heck I don’t need to say that to you guys, that’s something History has highlighted time after time, but sometimes we just need someone to hit that ‘reset’ button to remind us of all that we are capable of.

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2 thoughts on “No One Killed Jessica….Truth, Justice, Bureaucracy and the People.”

The wife was watching this movie the other day. and when i spoke to MT the other day he was buying tickets for this movie. I saw fragments of the movie (since you know my attention span with Hindi movies).

I do remember following the story in the papers. It was pretty messed up.

This truly was an awesome movie. I completely fell in love with Rani Mukheji's character from the get go. The completely brash and crude character she plays is a commendable and realistic look at journalists in general, not just in India. At the same time, Vidya Balan did an amazing job along with her.

As you said, what I loved about the movie was that it was never preachy or along the lines of a bio-flick. It was a true story told in a simplistic manner that was able to blend unconventional cinema with a commercial vibe to it.